Man faces trial over alleged sexual assault of 11 y/o girl

AN OLD friend of a Hervey Bay family stands accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl over the space of a year.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is facing trial over five counts of rape, one count of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 12, and one count of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16, with the offences alleged to have been committed over 2015 and 2016.

The man has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutor Katrina Overell told Hervey Bay District Court the accused was an old friend of the child's mother while they lived in Victoria. The pair reconnected through Facebook in 2012.

During this time, the accused allegedly contacted the daughter, chatting with her "about school... and to give her compliments to pick her up if she was feeling down".

When thegirl's family relocated to Hervey Bay in early 2015, they stayed with the accused and his partner at their home before moving to another house.

Ms Overell alleged the accused inappropriately touched the girl on a number of occasions during the time she stayed for sleepovers between July 2015 and March 2016.

"She (the girl) recalls an occasion when she went to the beach with the defendant.

"He took her out to deep water where he was holding on to her and forcibly removed her board shorts, and pushed his crotch against her bottom very tightly.

"The remainder of the charges occurred on four occasions when she slept over at the defendant's house, after she had moved next door."

The girl, who cannot be identified, told her parents of the alleged incidents in April 2016.

Video evidence of the girl's interview with officers was played to the court during the first day of the trial.